The data was provided by
Herve Falciani, an ex-HSBC employee who is wanted in Switzerland on charges of
data theft, and revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists (ICIJ) through their project Swiss Leaks.

According to the data,
Venezuelans had 1,138 accounts totaling $14.8 billion at the Swiss branch of
UK-based HSBC between 2005 and 2007. However, a whopping $11.9 billion of that was
tied to one account holder, Alejandro
Andrade, a former bodyguard of Venezuela's late president Hugo Chavez.

“Alejandro
Andrade was listed by the HSBC records as an attorney for the client account of
the Venezuelan Treasury Office under the Ministry of Finance in 2007, when he
assumed the position of national treasurer,” ICIJ says. “The Treasury Office
became an HSBC client in 2005 and held an account under the name of the
governmental institution…At least six of the other seven clients linked to this
account were also Venezuelan officials who worked for the Treasury Office.”

The
Treasury Office (formally known as Banco del Tesoro de Venezuela) was only two
months old when it opened an account with $9.5 billion at the Swiss HSBC branch.
Five months later, it deposited another $2 billion in two linked accounts, according
to Armando.info, the unit that investigated the Venezuela part of the leaks.

The
president of the bank at the time was army general Rodolfo Marco Torres, who is now finance minister in the government
of President Nicolas Maduro.

Andrade
started as a bodyguard to Chavez but ended up serving as national treasurer
between 2007 and 2010. In addition to serving as treasurer, Andrade was also
president of the Economic and Social Development Bank of Venezuela (Bandes)
between 2008 and 2010.

Andrade currently lives in Palm Beach County, Florida, in
the wealthy neighborhood of Wellington, and has invested in show horses,
according to ICIJ.

The
leaked data also shows that Cuban nationals held 29 accounts at the Swiss HSBC
branch, worth a combined $83.8 million. That's peanuts compared to Venezuela’s
contribution, but clearly a contradiction for a Communist country that claims
to be egalitarian and a contrast to the widespread shortages on the island.

“The Guayaquil-based tycoon [Noboa] was a beneficial
owner of an HSBC client account started in 2006, under the name Fruit Shippers
Limited, which listed postal addresses in Bermuda and the United States,” ICIJ
says. “Fruit Shippers Limited is the
name of a company in which Noboa is the controlling shareholder. The maximum
amount in the account in 2006/2007 was $92.1 million.”

Carlos Hank Rohn became an HSBC client in
2005 and had 10 bank accounts that together held as much as $158 million in
2006/2007, according to ICIJ.

“Hank Rohn was also linked to a numbered
client account with one bank account which held as much as $20.1 million in
2006/2007,” ICIJ says. “The leaked files do not specify the exact role he had
in relation to this account.”

In 2013, Camil Garza was
named as the consultant who allegedly paid bribes on behalf of the German
company Siemens to Mexico’s national oil company Pemex. Pemex identified Camil
as an intermediary in the payments in a separate 2013 lawsuit against Siemens,
which was dismissed by U.S. courts. Camil rejected all allegations of
wrongdoing in a conversation with ICIJ.